Sidewalk - Project Summary

The New Entrance. I like to think of it as a well-done face lift, and in a few months, nobody will ever remember a time when it looked differently.

 The new entrance (just one!)

A three-picture summary of two major projects, the White Pine 'Deconstruction' and the Sidewalk Reconstruction.

May 10, 2010

May 10, 2010

October 11, 2010

The Berm. Oh dear, I made a berm. It makes me think of suburbia, er, subermia? Not in this case. The arc and slope created by this berm is part of the new site engineering. The berm will collect and direct stormwater from the roof and send it to the rain garden. This will protect the house from water seepage and will irrigate the plants that arrive in Spring.

The berm.

Seed and Straw. A cover crop has been planted to protect the exposed soil. I used a mix of agricultural plants - Wheat, Rye, Buckwheat, and Oats - because they all can be turned into the soil as 'green manure'. Over the seeds is laid a fine layer of straw to protect the seeds from dehydration and hungry birds.

 Straw mulch, watered daily.

Finally, I'd like to point out our subterranean friends, the Cicada Nymphs. I exposed several while digging the soil the grade the site.

 Cicada nymph, posing next to the hole he was in.

More info on Cicadas:

• Cicadas are among the most benign of insects. Neither the root-sucking nymphs nor the adults do any significant damage to trees or other plants.
• Though some species are called annual cicadas because they are present every year, all species take at least four years to mature in the ground.
• Nymphs grow gradually through eight stages before maturity.

[This Cicada information came from Mass Audobon.] 

The Chicago Botanic Garden mentions:

Cicadas are edible....but recent research has determined that cicadas may contain high levels of mercury...and diners are cautioned to limit their ingestion of these "delicacies" to just a few.

I guess my small urban farm kitchen can add another item to it's menu. Cicada Tempura anyone?

[By the way, during a locust invasion of biblical proportions while serving as a Peace Corps Volunteer in The Gambia, locals refused to eat the large, juicy locusts even when it meant literally saving their livelihood. I'll take a cue from them.]